Tough Love
by StrawberryofLife
Summary: Lily and James are in Hogwarts in their Seventh Year. They're frienemies. How will they improve their relationship? -Basic story of 7th year- There will be some fluff! It is Jily after all!
1. The Nightly Shouting Match

**A/N: This is my first try at a fic, so sorry if this incredibly awful. This chapter doesn't have much (who am I kidding-there isn't really) fluff, but promises that there will be some. Rated M for cursing and suggestive comments.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I doubt I will ever. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. By that I mean J.K. Rowling owns all of the characters (except possibly a few later OCs) and basically the setting-but I do own one thing: the plot! (Hopefully it's something to be proud of...)  
**

**Enough of my babbling-here's what you came here for. *takes deep breath***

* * *

Chapter 1

The moon rose slowly and steadily over the castle. It was a glorious sight and anyone in their right mind would have enjoyed the beautiful view; the big, bright half-moon rising slowly over the grand castle. The lake that reflected the moon's picturesque beauty was just the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, there was no one outside to take a picture of the breath taking view, in fact, no one had or would ever see the beautiful view that Mother Nature had so beautifully crafted.

The castle that framed the moon so perfectly was silent and seemingly dormant. If anyone _had _been outside the castle to see the sight they wouldn't automatically assumed that no one inhabited the castle. The castle looked old and slightly shabby, but that just seemed to highlight the grandness of the castle in general. Of course, if the outsider just happened to have super hearing, they would've noticed the shrill voice of someone yelling at another, more unfortunate person.

Of course this unfortunate person just happened to be James Potter, who standing idly in the Gryffindor common room listening to a red-haired, loud-voiced girl yelling at him. This red-haired girl just happened to be Lily Evans. No one else was in the common room save for James and Lily, although due to the shrill volume of Lily Evans' yelling, more people were sure to come soon.

'ARGH! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN MY LIFE?' Lily yelled. James looked at her with a hint of amusement. He was used to Lily yelling at him by now; his first encounter with her yelling ability had happened promptly two days into his stay at Hogwarts. It no longer bothered James, although he assumed some angry, half-asleep students would probably wander down to the common room to find out what was happening. James shrugged sheepishly at Lily.

'What did I do this time?' he asked. Lily looked at him as if he had just turned into a purple and pink frog with orange polka-dots.

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE THIS TIME?' Lily positively screamed.

'I don't know what you're talk—screaming about,' James confessed. Truthfully, he had no idea what he'd done. Usually he had a pretty clear idea about what she was yelling about, but to be honest he had _no _idea of what she was mad about tonight. He hadn't asked her out today (yet) so she couldn't be possibly mad about that…he didn't remember pulling any large, grand pranks so she couldn't possibly be still mad at him for the last prank…so what was she all so worked up about?

'You—I'M SICK OF YOU!' Lily yelled, although her volume had obviously decreased since the last shout.

'I'm quite sure I've noticed that,' James pointed out.

'HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT HER?'

'Erm…who are we talking about?'

'ARE YOU REALLY THAT THICK?'

'No comment,'

'UGH! Stupid twat…I'M TALKING ABOUT TUNEY!'

'Tuney?' a sleepy voice asked, 'If that's what you two woke me up about then I'm going back to bed.' James turned around to see a sleepy-looking Sirius walking down the steps to the Boys' Dorm.

'Didn't mean to wake you, Padfoot,' James said. Sirius' sleepy expression turned to one of utter grumpiness. He turned around without replying and trudged back towards the comfort and warmth of his own bed. How James wished he could retreat to the Boys' Dorm with Sirius. But if he didn't confront Lily now their row would go on for weeks or she'd give him the silent treatment, which—from experience—was positively the worst. James turned his attention towards Lily.

'So about this "tune" you were talking about?' James asked, daring to sound a little hopeful. He asked himself why he was doing this—why after all their arguments and fights he still managed to pick up the broken glass and put it together again (sometimes literally). Lily huffed and her cheeks turned a little pink. James studied her annoyed expression, which he found quite adorable, and waited for her reply.

'Petunia, idiot.' Her voice had softened a lot, no longer a yell, it was actually quite calm and reserved, but oddly enough this scared James out of his wits.

'Wait…isn't that um…your…' James racked his brains trying to remember a Petunia. It seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't put a face with it. She didn't go to Hogwarts, he was fairly sure. So it must've been a relative or muggle friend of Lily's, right? He decided she was a relative of Lily's when a vague memory of Lily talking about her…sister? Was that right? James went out on a limb and blurted it out before he could stop himself.

'Yes, yes, my sister,' Lily spat, 'surprised you remembered her—didn't talk about her much as I remember.' Lily crossed her arms, obviously fuming. James was slightly amused by her antics. Getting all worked up about her sister—how sweet. But he still needed to apologize for whatever he'd 'done' this time. James didn't remember ever meeting, contacting, or really talking deeply with Lily about her sister, so he didn't see what he could have done. Perhaps the reason he'd been ignoring her sister's existence was why she was mad at him? But that didn't make much sense…did it? James at this particular moment was just starting to wonder about the complexities of the female mind (which should not be done without a good cup of coffee—and failing to notice that the male mind was equally as complex in slightly different ways) when Lily snapped her fingers right in front of his face.

'Well?' she asked, still looking ticked off.

'What?' he asked. Then deciding to make the first move, he tried to explain himself.

'Look, Lily, I honestly don't know what you're talking about, okay? I mean, if I've done something without meaning to then please—by all means—just tell me what it is already so I can _apologize. _But I haven't pranked your sister recently, so let me just tell you: I am 100% sure I haven't pranked her. So what did I do?' Lily looked slightly taken aback at James' confession and studied him up and down, as if trying to decide if he was lying or not. She breathed in deeply. James offered her a small smile, which he hadn't been able to conceal due to the fact that she was being simply adorable (in James' opinion, of course) while fuming/being angry.

'Look, let's say you're being honest—no, don't interrupt me—but then how can you explain the unfortunate event that Petunia has written me about? And before you reply—she doesn't write me at _all—_and he incident was that…her mirror was covered in black sharpie, the towels were cut out, the toothpaste spelled out shapes, her various pillows and blankets spelled out something, and her computer was jammed to repeat the same things over and over. Obviously I can't fix it—firstly because no magic allowed outside of school—secondly because well…I don't know the right charms. And guess what everything said?' Lily asked, looking pointedly at James. James offered her a shrug of his shoulders. Rolling her eyes, Lily continued.

'Lily loves James,' Lily replied firmly, her cheeks turning roughly the same colour as her hair before returning to her normal complexion. James stared, slightly open-mouthed, at what she had just said. Then he contemplated this impressive prank. There was only one person who could've pulled it off, wanted to pull it off, and actually pulled it off.

'I didn't do it,' James said, looking her with a begging expression. He wanted her to just believe him. For Merlin's sake, just believe him this once. If he had to endure another week of boils in rather…uncomfortable…places he would just positively _die. _Lily nodded, slowly and carefully. Then shot him a questioning glance.

'Sirius,' he replied, understanding her immediately. This was one of the odd quirks about them. Lily positively hated James (although the same could not be said for James—in fact he quite fancied Lily profusely, which he had proved by asking her out constantly and repetitively) but they both could really understand each other's emotions and understand what most glances meant. Unfortunately, (with them being…frienemies) these little quirks of their relationship were just taken for granted and not used to a further extent. Lily turned very pink, shot James an apologetic glance and stormed up the Boys' staircase. James followed wearily, hoping he could get some sleep, but knew he would be kept up for a little while by Lily's wrath on Sirius. Seriously, did her lungs never run out of air?

In front of him, Lily banged on his dorm door. A sleepy looking Remus appeared at the door. Since he was obviously not fully awake (it was not exactly a great hour of night) he let Lily in the room without question and tottered to his bed. James, wisely, paused outside the door of his dorm, preferring to be in a separate room when Lily unleashed her full wrath. He heard an angry-sounding Sirius mutter a few strong words under his breath.

'What the hell?' James heard Sirius' voice—low but still loud—from inside the room.

'SIRIUS…' was the loud reply. A few seconds later there was a bang, a pop, a crash and a rather satisfied-looking Lily walked out of the room, smirking at James on her way out. She looked _so _hot at that moment; hair slightly ruffled and her emerald orbs glinted slyly.

How she would be the death of him.

* * *

**A/N: So...er...how'd you like it? That's it for now. I guess I'll try and update it soon if anyone likes it. **

**Reviews would be greatly appreciated-by by all means: I am not forcing you to write anything. A simple 'That story is rubbish' or 'that story is...interesting' would make me very happy. (As strange as it sounds, any sort of reply would make me VERY happy.)  
**

**To be completely honest with you, I'm not completely sure about this story. (Am I sure about anything-no not really, but that's beside the point.) I kind of just started off from scratch. I don't have an exact plot-line in mind, but I've been dying to take a go at some good Lily/James fanfiction, because I ship them dearly, but I haven't been able to do them justice. (Believe me-there have been many carefully planned out fics that have been thrown in the rubbish bin, and I eventually just went along with this random one.)  
**

**Thanks to all who have read this. It would make my day if you reviewed, but no pressure.**

**Love to you all!  
**

**-StrawberryofLife**


	2. Why do I Feel Guilty?

**A/N: I'm not completely sure if I like where this story is headed. Once again, although this story is a...chapter story, I don't have a perfectly clear direction of where this is going. I hope I'm doing okay. I would like to note two things. First: I know I haven't had an indication of what time of year it is in the story. I'm not really sure what time of year it is, to be honest. I know it isn't winter or summer, yes, but I'm not really sure what month. Probably early October. Second: I haven't really told you what year they are all in. I sort of mention that Lily's in Sixth Year in this chapter, but I'm not really sure exactly what year they're in yet. Probably sixth, but the problem with that is I don't know if I want to write a whole seventh year or not so this story will probably end at the end of their sixth year, although I ****_do _****want them to be a couple. I'll just mess around with the plot line until then. Sorry for my blabbering!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I would've visited Antarctica by now. Which, by the way, I haven't. So J.K. Rowling owns the characters and the setting.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Lily woke up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight filtering in through the windows. It wasn't at all unlike most Saturday mornings, but for some reason Lily felt a pang in her chest. She didn't want to admit it; not to anyone really, but she felt kind of guilty. No—it wasn't for Sirius, it—it couldn't be when he was the cause of Petunia's Letter of Hate that was now burnt up into ashes in the Gryffindor common room fire. No—it was because she just felt a little guilty at yelling at James for no…particular reason. I mean, at the time it had seemed obvious for her _not _to apologize, but now she didn't really remember what that particular reason was. She brushed aside her thoughts of last night and got out of bed, determined to start the day in a bad mood. It was cliché, sure, but she figured that at least if she _started _the day happy, she wouldn't get into anymore…uncalled for arguments.

When Lily arrived in the Great Hall, the first person she looked for was James. It seemed slightly…odd that she was doing this; every other day she just sat next to her friends like usual, but today she just wanted to get the weight off her chest and apologize. Not like that would change anything, but she just wanted to get it over with.

Unfortunately, today happened to be the _one _day that James had decided not to show up to breakfast (or had already finished breakfast, for that matter) and annoy her. Normally James took this time as an opportunity to talk to her which in turn, (usually) annoyed her. She promised her conscience that she would apologize to James later, and then took a seat with her friends.

'There's my bed head,' Marlene said, grinning at her. Lily smiled back and took a seat next to Marlene. She grabbed a piece of toast and buttered it furiously. Marlene looked amused for a moment before speaking again.

'I saw Sirius this morning,' she hinted. Lily ignored her, knowing that Marlene was just trying to find out why in the world Sirius looked like a troll. Not that he looked much better when he wasn't hexed…

'Yeah; I hexed him,' Lily replied coolly.

'What'd you do that for?' asked Alice, looking around Marlene to stare Lily directly in the eye.

'Well, he was responsible for the Letter of Hate.' Lily said. She really didn't see why her friends bothered trying to figure out why she hexed people. There was usually some sort of argument or prank involved and her friends already knew that. Meanwhile, her two friends looked at her, with nearly identical confused expressions on their faces. Lily stifled a laugh. There was just something oddly funny about the way Marlene's eyebrows rose high up on her face and how Alice's lips were pursed that just made the whole situation seem kind of surreal.

'Letter of Hate?' Alice questioned.

'It was from my sister. I'd show you it, but it's burnt into ashes so I can't; not that you'd want to see it anyways…' Lily said. Lily profusely refused to let her body show any type of sad emotion at this point. Her friends knew she hated Petunia. The thing was, she hadn't told them she really hadn't gotten over this sudden change in relationship. She'd looked up to Petunia for most of her life, but it seemed to be that ever since Lily had discovered her powers, Petunia turned on her. Her parents had claimed that it was just a phase; that is was temporary, but here she was—six years later—and still no change from Petunia's end. Lily had tried to make up for it. She hadn't used her powers at home—not that she could—but she donned muggle clothing and kept all her magical supplies (quills, parchment, wand, etc.) stuffed in her room so that she did homework late at night. But recently she had stopped doing this. If Petunia refused to accept her as a sister no matter how hard she tried, then she figured that she couldn't really hide who she was anymore. So she did her homework in the living room, occasionally watched by the interested parent, and she and her sister rarely communicated unless absolutely necessary.

Lily didn't trust as many people anymore. It wasn't really that she completely, wholly realized it, but it was just kind of instinct. Marlene, Alice, Amy…those girls had been with her since the beginning of Hogwarts. She trusted them. But she had also trusted Snape. And Snape had lost her trust. What more could she say? She was always weird; the outcast; the one who didn't belong. A muggle-born, a wizard, even some people poked fun at her red hair. She had just grown to live life like it was. Trusting people very carefully, not relying wholly on anyone but herself and her close friends. Remus was…sort of a close friend. Lily had befriended him at a younger age—but his joining the Marauders (which at the time had consisted of just James and Sirius) had put a strain on their relationship. It wasn't that Lily had a specific dislike of the Marauders, it was simply because at some point in time she had become a prefect. Then, of course, it was her job to _put _the Marauders in detention, which was hard, because Remus was her friend. And even before that, it seemed like Remus was always up to his waist in plotting for their latest scheme. Lily also knew that with Remus' 'getting sick' or really his symptoms of being a werewolf, it was hard for Remus to keep friends close. He was scared of hurting people, really, and Remus didn't suspect Lily of knowing about his 'furry little problem' as the Marauders so _cleverly _called it. But she felt another pang in her chest knowing that the Marauders were there for Remus when Remus needed it most. And she wasn't comforting at all to Remus…she just offered advice. And talked with him about well, anything really. It just seemed that apparently she was not doing well on the friend ship today. –pun intended—

^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^

James wasn't having a great day. Firstly, he was still slightly annoyed from last night. Secondly, Sirius looked like a troll. Thirdly, he had to captain the Quidditch team in three hours. Separately, those three things probably wouldn't have made James in such a bad mood. He dully noted that Lily hadn't apologized to him yet. Because he did expect an apology from last night because although he _did _fancy her, that didn't mean she could just yell at him for something he hadn't done. She'd apologized to him before…several times, actually, because she didn't seem to realize that all of the Marauders were all perfectly capable of pulling off pranks—not just James.

'Oi, Prongs, can you change me _back _now?' Sirius grunted, interrupting James' train of thought. James looked at his friend, slightly disgusted. Sirius looked precisely like a rather muscular troll that was about the same size as…Sirius.

'Okay, okay, but shouldn't you be getting Moony to do this?'

Sirius rolled his eyes in exasperation.

'First of all YOU were the one who said you were great at Transfiguration. Second of all Remus is in the library and I have a life ban from there. So go on then—change me back,' Sirius commanded in his troll-like grunting voice. James grinned. He shouldn't waste a good opportunity.

'I get your stash of Honeyduke's chocolate,' James said, grinning. Sirius shook his head. At this, James looked at Sirius, one eyebrow raised, and pocketed his wand.

'Alright,' he grumbled, 'but only half…'

'Sounds good to me.' James replied. He took out his wand, waved in in a complicated pattern and muttered something under his breath. A few minutes later, Sirius was standing in the Boys' Dorm looking completely normal. Sirius grinned.

'Thanks mate!' and he started walking towards the door. He was almost out when James said—

'I expect my winnings tonight, Padfoot, don't expect to get off easily.' Sirius cursed under his breath and walked, a little bit sulkier, out the door. James walked towards his trunk, hoping to get a bit of school work done, when there was a soft knock on the door.

''Mon in—the door's unlocked,' James said, still searching his trunk for his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

'Er…James?' a timid voice, that James immediately recognized asked. James turned around and found himself staring at Lily. Lily's cheeks were a light colour of pink and she looked rather sheepish. James ruffled his hair out of habit, but was pretty sure he knew what she was about to say.

'I'm—I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday,' she blurted out, 'I don't know what I was thinking—well, actually I _do _know what I was thinking. I just assumed since…you know what it said…that _you _did it. I didn't really expect Sirius…or the others to you know…do anything to my sister. I didn't think they knew about her. And I guess I just kind of—got caught up in the moment, you know?' Lily's cheeks turned redder and she settled looking at the floor right in front of her feet.

'It's—fine. You've apologized now and that's that.' James said. He immediately noticed the tensing of her shoulders and realized it was probably the wrong thing to say.

'I should've apologized last night. Next time…remind me to?' she asked, sheepishly. She turned pink. 'I mean…I'll remember next time…' James inclined his head slightly as if to say 'sure' but no words came out of his mouth.

'Sorry,' Lily muttered, still embarrassed. She walked forward awkwardly and held out a hand. James shook it. They looked into each others eyes for a fleeting moment. James offered a genuine smile and Lily smiled back. They stared at each other for another minute or two. James was taking in the features in her face. He shot her a slightly cocky grin and she turned slightly pink and looked at the floor. Then she walked out of the Boys' Dorm. A few minutes after Lily left, Sirius entered the room with Remus and Peter.

'We were thinking we should go for a round of butterbeer and stock up on a few Zonko's things. Besides, I need to replenish my Honeyduke's stash because of…_you. _I did see Lily here a while ago, though. What were you two lovebirds up to, huh?' Sirius said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. James turned slightly red.

'She was apologizing for yelling at me last night,' he said.

'You're face went red. Someone's in looooove! She apologize by snogging you then?' Sirius asked, grinning. James' face went redder. She shook his head vigorously.

'Shame,' Peter said, grinning, 'I suppose some good ol' shagging did the trick, huh?' Peter winked. James turned even redder in the face so that his face now looked about identical to that of a tomato.

'No; no; she apologized to me using words, twats.' James said.

'So am I a twat for being an innocent bystander then?' Remus asked, amused.

'You didn't defend me,' James protested. His friends, although the best of friends he could ever have, could be a little…annoying occasionally. Not that he ever disliked them. He couldn't even begin to _think _about betraying them or doing anything to them other than the occasional, brotherly prank or tease.

'Butterbeer, then?' Sirius asked, grinning, 'Then we can talk about the _details _of your relationship with Lily.' James blushed profusely.

'First of all there's nothing going on between the two of us and second of all, I don't here you giving _us _the details on your various…romantic escapades.' James replied.

'The last "romantic escapade" as you put it was last year, Prongs. 'Sides, I don't think you _always _want to know all the details.'

'Then neither do you. But let's head out for butterbeer, then.'

'Race to Hogsmede! Last one there is a rotten hippogriff child!' Sirius, yelled, a boyish grin on his face, before taking off.

'No far!' Peter yelled, zipping off. James and Remus exchanged looks—what might have been looks of 'they're so immature' before they too ran off, trying to race each other to Hogsmede.

* * *

**A/N: Stick with my here. I know I promised fluff soon. It hasn't really happened yet except for that one moment. I'm not really sure if that counts, to be honest. I'm sorry about this. I didn't really want them to be friends already was the problem. Which means they COULD be in the seventh year, but I'm not sure if I'm going to write about them being Heads or not.**

**I probably will, though, so...next chapter may have more of them together? I'm not really sure. Oh, and something else. I would just like to thank MSupernatural for reviewing. Thanks! But that isn't it. I would like to say I don't feel as comfortable writing from Lily's perspective, which is kind of crazy, because all my non-fanfiction stories that have a main character girl I'm perfectly fine with writing from their perspective. Of course, I'm not really sure how Lily thinks. She has a different personality than I'm used to, but I hope I did her some justice. And I felt like I couldn't leave the last chapter without Lily feeling guilty. Although I felt it necessary to point out that Lily yells at James a lot and also apologizes (most of the time) for her yelling. I feel like some people portray her as someone who has no regards for James' feelings until she falls in love with him. I feel like that's not right. Because I know that eventually after you yell at someone you usually feel guilty at some point. **

**Sorry for the long Author's Note. BTW-feel free to skip any/all Author's Notes at the end/beginning of stories if you want. Honestly, I understand if you just want to read the story. Reviews are sweet! **

**xxStrawberryofLifexx**


	3. Two Girls One Door

**A/N: Let me give you a heads up: Nothing much happens in this chapter. A bit of foreshadowing perhaps...maybe...it isn't as if I'm going to tell anyone if there WAS foreshadowing, so let's just foreshadow that there ****_might _****be foreshadowing. Of course, there might not. So on that note - nothing much happens in this chapter. By the way: This chapter is (so far) the shortest chapter so sorry about that.  
**

**Disclaimer: You guessed it...I don't own Harry Potter rights. *gasp* **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The four boys arrived in Hogsmede (via secret passage) in this order:

Sirius, Peter, James, Remus. This was mostly due to the order they had taken off in; not necessarily pure running skill. Panting heavily, all four boys walked into the Three Broomsticks and found a table in the corner of the pub in order to avoid those that might recognize them.

Madam Rosmerta, the pub owner, knew about the boys' little adventures out of the castle, but was a good friend of the boys and didn't tell a soul.

'What'll it be?' Rosmerta asked, coming from seemingly out of nowhere.

'Four mugs of butterbeer,' James replied, smiling at the lady who looked as if she were in her late-forties. She wore a friendly smile and her eyes twinkled, a vivid blue color tinged with purple around the irises.

'Actually—I think I'll take one of those…cheery sodas?' Peter piped up.

'You mean a cherry soda, hun?' Madam Rosmerta asked, smiling at Peter warmly. For those who looked into the relationship of the Marauders and Madam Rosmerta, it would appear that Madam Rosmerta did not have a favorite. This, in fact, was not true at all, but Madam Rosmerta preferred not to play favorites, simply because she did not want anyone to take offense. Madam Rosmerta was like this generally. A sweet, aging woman with calloused hands from the hundreds of orders and customers she dealt with, she was forever helpful and friendly to those that earned her trust. Those that didn't earn her trust on the other hand…did not go unnoticed. Madam Rosmerta had connections within Hogsmede, something that wasn't unusually in a smallish wizard shopping district. Those that treated Madam Rosmerta badly or had somehow failed to receive the trust of Madam Rosmerta found themselves being kicked out of shops on the occasion or receiving a drink filled with pepper from Rosmerta herself. Contrary to the belief, Madam Rosmerta could be quite mischievous—one of the many traits she hadn't lost in her aging.

Peter nodded and Madam Rosmerta disappeared to get their drinks, flashing each of the boys a smile in turn.

^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^

Marlene was sitting on her bed, humming the latest tune from the Weird Sisters softly and skimming through her Advanced Potions book, jotting down the occasionally note on a piece of parchment that was lying haphazardly on a tall stack of books that started at the floor and reached the side of Marlene's bed. It teetered and tottered a bit, but the spell that Marlene had cast on it to ensure it didn't fall prevented it from falling, although the wobbling of the stack of books suggested that as soon as the spell was removed the books would crash to the floor.

'What are you up to?' Alice asked, standing in the doorway. Marlene looked up, slightly surprised to see her friend, but no emotion was seen on her face other than sheer boredom.

'I'm trying to write my Potions essay, because apparently this will make a big difference on our end-of-term grade,' Marlene replied, nonchalantly.

'So I'm guessing you wouldn't have done it otherwise?' Alice asked, smiling at her friend.

'Of course she wouldn't have!' Val (short for Valerie) June replied, appearing from the bathroom.

'Well you appeared out of nowhere,' Marlene commented, before going back to her book.

'Personally I'm not doing the essay; if I get a T, so what? I'm pretty sure my term grade wouldn't get worse—besides I actually _did _the essay on why we make cures for potions rather than just stuffing a bezoar down one's throat. I learned a bit about it from…' Val trailed off looking spaced out, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes, threatening to call.

'I—I should go…' Val said, trying to keep her cool. She rushed out of the bedroom suddenly, leaving a bewildered Alice and Marlene.

'Wonder what that was about…' Alice said, 'but I came to talk to you about other things—Quidditch try outs namely. I know you'll probably be put back on the team, but I heard from Smith that Grayson was trying out for Keeper and I want to know your opinion on it.'

'Why do you want to know my opinion?' Marlene asked, crossing a few lines out with her quill and writing a few new ones. She looked up at Alice for a moment before returning to her essay.

'Duh. You play Quidditch. Is she going to make the team?'

'How should I know? Ask James—he's captain this year I hear. If he doesn't put me on…' Marlene trailed off, deep in thought. Alice rolled her eyes.

'Why do you want to know anyways?' Marlene asked, her attention snapping back to Alice. She looked oddly suspicious.

'Well if she isn't going to make it…I'm going to go ask James—yeah?' Alice said, phrasing it more like a question. Marlene opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but before she could—Alice ran out the door like a frightened puppy. Marlene stared at the door oddly. Two girls in one day, one almost crying the second escaping the vocals of Marlene. Huh. Strange day.

^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^

Lily was sitting by the lake, reading a book and not paying attention to anything except for the book. A few minutes later a gray owl that looked old and bored – not unlike Professor Binns – handed her a note. Well, not exactly handed, but stuck out his foot while flying in mid-air, impatiently. Curious as to who would send her a letter in the middle of the day, she accepted the letter and handed the owl a bit of slightly stale bread she had in her pocket, for whatever reason she had it there, she had no idea. The owl nipped it in his beak and flew off, still looking cross. Lily opened the letter.

Lily,

This is a reminder that there will be a prefect meeting later today to discuss the upcoming Halloween Feast. You are required to attend as one of your duties as Head Girl and there will be no exceptions to this rule except in the case of extreme sickness.

Professor McGonagall

_Ugh. _Was Lily's first thought. It wasn't simply because she disliked her duties as Head Girl—in fact she was quite honored to be Head Girl—but it was the fact that she had to spend extra time with James, the prestigious Head Boy and unfortunately her very own counter-part. James and Lily weren't exactly friends, you could say, but they were no longer enemies either. They were what one might call 'frienemies' although the term in their case was very stretchy. There were times—like the other night—in which they had loud shouting matches (although in last night's case Lily had been the sole factor in the unnecessary argument) but there were also times when they got along in perfect – well not exactly _perfect, _but pretty good – harmony. They worked pretty well together as Head Boy and Girl, but the awkwardness of earlier today still was fresh in Lily's memory as well as the shouting match the other night. These two factors put together, made Lily want to avoid James as much as possible for at least a week before he (hopefully) forgot most of the events that had transpired. But of course there was a darn prefect meeting today and _of course _she was _required _to attend. _Great, _though Lily, _just great._

* * *

**A/N: Me and my over-dramatic mind, huh? Stupid way to end the chapter, believe me I KNOW, but it's just I didn't really know where to end, so there you have it: a bad ending. Sorry about that. And sorry about all the thinking - the whole frienemies paragraph and the whole Madam Rosmerta paragraph - but I figured that they just gave you all and insight to what I think my characters personalities are. I imagine Madam Rosmerta had a few tricks up her sleeve - she did know (and like) the Marauders after all. **

**Second: I guess they are all officially in the Seventh Year. So sorry about that - hope that clears everything up.**

**Also, I'm just going to add: I'm thinking about writing something in honor of Fred. Well, that was random. But really - I really like Fred...he's actually (shh) my favorite of the twins. Sorry George. **

**Sorry about my long Author's Notes...I just get a bit carried away don't I? So if you liked (or if you didn't like) this chapter please review! It is always greatly appreciated! **

**-StrawberryofLife**


	4. DAD, my watch HATES me!

**A/N: Hello! Okay... loads of complicated whatnot have gone on recently. Let's just say it (hopefully) in a quick manner and then get to the long Author's Note at the bottom, how does that sound? Bad? Sorry... going to do it anyway. Anywho, I recently posted an "Announcement" saying that I'd discontinued Tough Love. SURPRISE! I haven't. :O I still don't think this is my greatest work, but I have been inspired by the following people:**

**Average Canadian ;)**

**Accidentallyinlove0401**

**jubi95**

**JustSimplyAlly**

**And of course my good friend Oakleaf101 who now has school so she can't post as often. :P ANYWAYS, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer saying I DO NOT own the following: Harry Potter. Harry Potter rights. Harry Potter stuff. If you sue me... no... just no...**

This is my line that divides the Author's Note from the actual story because apparently I can't find that little line tool on my tool section SO I'M USING MY RESOURCES. Who can blame me?

Chapter 4

Professor McGongall's day had been rough so far. After stopping an attempt at a duel between two first years on the Sixth Floor (a Gryffindor and Slytherin, much to her disappointment) she had been required not only to attend the Prefect meeting, but help with the upcoming Halloween feast. Not only that, but she had to grade the exams that had been taken yesterday by the Fifth Years and she had promised them that they'd be back _today. _And the day didn't get any better when Filch's cat had decided to attack her in the middle of the corridor randomly.

So it was at this point in the day that Professor McGonagall had decided that she wouldn't get stressed out—no, instead she would embrace her busyness (if that was even a word) and focus on one thing at a time. And right now that one thing was ensuring that _every prefect _and _both _Head students attended the meeting that was happening in oh…fifteen minutes. She'd sent quick owls to all the prefects as well as Lily—the current Head Girl—and now all she had to do was send an owl to James—an irresponsible choice for Head Boy if she did say so herself, and although she had told Dumbledore of this opinion, she had also later contacted Professor Tabitha Jeanine, teacher of Ancient Runes a.k.a. her very good friend, and confessed that she was secretly proud of James. She _was _Head of Gryffindor, after all.

Minerva finished off her short, sharp letter to James just as her large, tawny owl flew in through the window and dropped a letter on her desk. Professor McGonagall grabbed a small packet of owl treats from deep inside her desk and handed one to Percival, her owl. He eat it daintily and politely, acting like the proper bird he was. After he had finished with the treat he looked at her expectantly, as if _knowing _she had one last letter to send. Minerva tied the letter to the owl gratefully and watched as he flew out the window.

^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^

"_YOU ARE A MUGGLE AND I AM NOT… WE ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT WO-O-O-RLDS! But I've put 2 and 2…me and you…together. We are…MEANT TO BE! YEAH…! _

"Shut UP, Wormtail!" James yelled from his sprawled out position on his bed, scribbling his Potions essay furiously as he was forced to listen to Peter's warbling lyrics of _Meant to Be _by Peter's latest favorite singer, Elijah Toad.

"_Just because we're from two different worlds…oooh…doesn't mean we have to take separate roads! You and I…yes, you and me. WE'RE JUST… JUST… JUST MEANT TO BEEEEEEE!_" The singing volume increased from the bathroom and James sighed, grabbed his stuff, and headed down the stairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room, desperate to get some silence or at the very least Peter to just _stop singing. _But hey, it wasn't Peter's fault that his voice sounded like he had orange whiskers—and awful disease that affected one's voice and, true to the them, produced orange whiskers on one's face, whether male or female. No one was particularly eager to have the orange whiskers disease.

After a few minutes dillydallying in the common room, trying to figure out what components would be affected if one added dragon heartstrings to the Sleeping Draught, he heard a tap at the window next to him. He looked up to see a big tawny owl flapping outside the window, narrowed eyes, tapping incessantly.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," James muttered as the tapping rate increased a tenfold. The bird ceased slamming his foot into the window and waited patiently for James to unlock the window, but his eyes remained narrowed. The tawny owl landed on the window sill and stuck out a foot for James to untie an important looking manila-coloured letter. As soon as James had the letter in his hands the tawny owl zipped off without waiting for a reply. Shrugging, James opened the letter to reveal the posh, yet obviously rushed cursive that made up Professor McGonagall's handwriting.

_James Potter,_

_Your attendance at the upcoming Prefect's meeting is required. Please meet in the usual spot at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It is one of your duties as Head Boy. Unless in the case of extreme sickness, you _must _come. _

_Professor McGongall_

James looked at the letter one more time before peering at the watch that was attached to the wrist of his left hand. "Time?" he asked looking at the blank watch face. Golden numbers appeared to form the time at the same time that the watch proclaimed loudly—echoing all over the common room, which caused a few confused stares—"It's 3:52 idiot. Get your butt outta this chair and go to your Prefect Meeting." There were a few giggles from a group of chatty girls over in the corner. James shot a frosty glare at them.

"No need to be rude." "I'm a watch, _Master James, _I do what I please. My intelligence should have at least been put into a mirror or something of greater importance than a watch…"

"You're important to me," James said, grabbing his parchment and quills and stuffing them in his bag quickly in order to attend the Prefect Meeting on time.

"Well thanks," the watch said sarcastically, "It's nice to know that the son of the person that _bought _me likes me. Geez. I'm not some _object _to be bought and sold…ARGH! Stop moving your wrist about. I'm getting dizzy." A few more giggles. James shot another cold stare at the girls before slipping his bag over his shoulder and adjusting his loose tie in order to look more professional.

"Actually you kind of are an…" "DON'T SAY IT! I'M _NOT _AN OBJECT!" The watch argued loudly, causing James to receive a few confused stares mixed with angry ones whose owner's shushed him loudly. One girl in particular with big blue eyes gestured towards a long roll of parchment she had as if to indicate, 'I'm working! Shut up your stupid watch!' And then pointed to the wand in her hand and lit the tip of the wand on fire as if to further indicate (as if James didn't already know) 'IF YOU DON'T QUIET DOWN I WILL SET YOU ON FIRE.' And then she fluttered her eyelashes and grinned, blowing some of the flame's James' way.

"Define the word object," James muttered as he slipped out through the portrait hole, eager to get away from Flame Girl.

"Object. Noun…" the watch started. "No _your _definition of object," James objected as he ran towards the empty classroom commonly used by the prefects and Head students to host Prefect Meetings.

"Object. Noun. A non-living, unmoving device or _thing _without emotions or feelings. Hmph." The watch said. "Thanks," James said, "now could you please be quiet? I have a Prefect Meeting."

"So we're using manners, are we pretty boy? Well you know what…" "OH JUST SHUT UP, I'M HERE." With one last, echoing giggle, the watch fell silent and resumed its blank face. He should really ask for a new watch, James noted before opening the door, one _without _and attitude. Preferably with a better sounding voice, as well? James decided on owling his father later that day.

As he opened the door, James realized the empty classroom was…well…_empty. _"What time is it?" James suddenly asked, wondering if perhaps…

"2:59," a cool female voice echoed, glittering golden letters appearing one the wall where a once-blank clock face had been.

"Could've told you that," the watch absentmindedly said. James could hear the evil grin in its voice.

"Well, at least I'm early," James shrugged. The watch's golden letters formed a few…ugly words, to say the least.

"Not necessary," James said, glaring at the watch face and trying to remember if he knew any spells for 'watch personality transformation'. Perhaps he should ask McGonagall?

^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^ J&L^_^

Remus sat down next to fellow prefect, Veronica Toad of Hufflepuff, who just happened to be Peter's latest crush (due to the fact that her uncle was Elijah Toad, Peter's favourite singer). Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the room, her young face looking rather annoyed, lavish amounts of lipstick applied her already cherry-pink lips.

Remus took an easy glance at Veronica. She was a pretty girl, Remus could admit, but nothing adherently special. She lacked that _extra feature _that attracted Remus' attention, although he could admit he usually found that in the personality and it was true: Veronica and Remus hadn't had a proper conversation, only exchanged pleasantries in the hallways and such. And if Remus had been interested in her at all, she already had a boyfriend—much to Peter's disappointment, of course.

Remus redirected his attention to McGonagall, but like it was so prone to do, his gaze wandered around the room, from Terry Jacobs, a half-blood wizard whose mum had died young, to Lily Evans, the Head Girl and James' current…crush.

It was hard to decide where James was standing on Evans terms. She was pretty, that was for sure—almost nothing seemed to stand out more than her red hair and green eyes and petite, graceful figure in a crowd of students, and her personality was great but Remus found her more as 'good friend' material than 'girlfriend' material.

James, on the other hand, thought Evans was so, so, _so _beautiful. Three times. But James just kind of…knew…he didn't really have a chance, so he had half given up on her. He'd played around with her when he was younger, asked her out like a great prat (to the hilarity of his best mates, including—Remus was ashamed to say—himself) but he'd never really _meant _it properly. All younger James wanted was a good snog, a date to Hogsmede, and great arm candy at that point. He wasn't a playboy, James, but he hadn't been a good option for a real, steady boyfriend.

Now Remus wasn't sure where James' opinion on Evans lay. He seemed kind of hopeful whenever Evans was single ("and ready to mingle" Sirius had always added), but he'd never asked her out and he complained about her to them several times a month, so Remus just figured they were at that awkward 'frienemy' standpoint where you _know _you want to be their friend, it's just you've been enemies…or a better term for it: mean friends, although that didn't quite fit either…for so long that it's hard to trust them.

Kind of like a trust fall. You just _know _they're going to catch you, but you stumble and catch yourself on your back foot all the same, because you aren't 100% sure.

Here's my crappy line again. I hope this doesn't distract you too much because heaven knows this would distract me LOADS. So...what to type? Line...

**A/N: And so there are a few things I'd like to address, which means this will be long which means you probably don't want to read this, but please do! *puppy dog eyes* **

**First of all I called numbers 'letters' didn't I? Little known fact: my dad is from an island in southeast Asia (will not reveal due to people stalking on Google, but it isn't the biggest chain hint, hint and it isn't a really small one with a merlion, but...never mind, I've given up) and although he speaks English without and accent and normally, he has a few quirks such as calling numbers letters and such that I've picked up. He also calls flashlights 'torches' (Malaysia - where he's from, oh no I've given it away - was once under British rule not too long ago) and so I've adapted to saying torchlights, because no one in America knows what torches are. Anyways, point taken is I have partly American spellings/sayings and partly Malaysian spellings/sayings and a few British. Is everyone okay with that? Great. **

**Second of all I like to say McGonagall was in her fifties at her time with Harry during Hogwarts so during the Marauders Era she would've been in her twenties, a time when I think she was still kind of young, but her studios "old Hermione" side was showing. But she still had a BFF and all that stuff (hint, hint Tabitha). So if her personality isn't spot on canon I'm SORRY.**

**Last of all (hopefully last of all) I'm adding a few non-canon, OCs to this story because I hated the fact that I didn't create any at the beginning of the story. I really like this story, but I also hate it. So... hope you liked... :)**

**AND ABOVE ALL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW (four times!) because I've had a few followers and favourters, but only four review-ERS and a total of six reviews and I REALLY REALLY want everybody's feedback. Please! **

**xxStrawberryofLifexx :D **


End file.
